By Josh Lacey
WHEN I MEET Marcus du Sautoy I take along one of the books which he discusses in The Music of the Primes and recommends in his ‘top ten’. A Mathematician’s Apology is a memoir by G.H. Hardy, one of the prominent British mathematicians of the twentieth century. The book is short, brilliant and surprisingly provocative. I open it at page 63, and read the following lines: ‘If then I find myself writing, not mathematics but “about” mathematics, it is a confession of weakness, for which I may rightly be scorned or pitied by younger and more vigorous mathematicians. I write about mathematics because, like any other mathematician who has passed sixty, I have no longer the freshness of mind, the energy or the patience to carry on effectively with my proper job.’
Marcus du Sautoy is shaking his head. ‘This is disgraceful,’ he says. ‘Disgraceful.’ The words may have been written by one of his heroes, but the sentiments appal him. He is a young, vigorous mathematician who has not only energy, patience and a fresh mind, but an international reputation and a Professorship at Oxford. He could be forgiven for sharing some of Hardy’s intellectual arrogance and academic insularity. Instead, he is determined to jump down from the ivory tower of pure maths and show non-mathematicians why he has devoted his life to numbers.
Unlike many people who write ‘popular science’, du Sautoy is a serious and respected scientist. There is no need for him to pollute himself by mingling with ordinary readers. He chooses to do so because he is convinced that a vital part of his job is communicating his own skills and passions to a wider public. He writes newspaper articles. He speaks on the radio. He delivers lectures to bankers, chats to artists and gives presentations in primary schools, using the connections between primes and football to inspire children with enthusiasm for maths. Do you know why David Beckham chose the number 23 shirt? If you are one of the fortunate children at a school that du Sautoy visits, you will find out.
Du Sautoy describes himself as a very lucky man. He is paid to pursue his passions. Rather than working in the noisy environment of an office, he works at home. He starts every day by taking his son to school on a bicycle, then sits in his flat, thinking and listening to music. When he wants a longer break, he has the opportunity to travel around the world, communicating with the small tribe of people who can speak the same refined mathematical language as him. At the same time, using much simpler language, he gets to speak to a wide range of people who lack his mathematical expertise but share his fascinations.
‘Du Sautoy is determined to jump down from the ivory tower of pure maths and show non-mathematicians why he has devoted his life to numbers.’
All this good fortune has one source: he was lucky enough to have a brilliant schoolteacher who introduced him to the joy of numbers. When du Sautoy was twelve, his maths teacher persuaded him to read Martin Gardner’s ‘Mathematical Games’ column in Scientific American. Without that teacher, du Sautoy might never have become fascinated by maths. How many people, he wonders, were not offered that opportunity? How many pupils are discouraged by bad teaching? How many adults looked the other way at a crucial moment in their lives, and were never offered a second chance?
For all those people who are bewildered, baffled or bored by maths, du Sautoy offers a simple metaphor: he compares maths to music. Most composers understand the intricate structures underpinning what they write, but there is no need for listeners to share this expertise. When someone plays a piece of music, you can simply close your eyes and listen. Similarly, insists du Sautoy, ‘we can all develop mathematical ears’. Even if we don’t understand every equation or follow every step in a proof, we can all appreciate the rigour, beauty and perfection of maths. We can hear its music.
Born in 1965, Marcus du Sautoy was educated at the University of Oxford, where he is now Professor of Mathematics and a Fellow of All Souls College. He is currently a Research Fellow at the Royal Society, the premier independent scientific academy of the UK dedicated to promoting excellence in science.
In 2001 he won the prestigious Berwick Prize of the London Mathematical Society, awarded every two years to reward the best mathematical research by a mathematician under forty. He is the author of numerous academic articles and books on mathematics. He has been a visiting Professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris, the Max Planck Institute in Bonn, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Australian National University in Canberra.
Marcus du Sautoy lives in London with his wife, children and cat. He plays football and the trumpet.
1. The Glass Bead Game
Hermann Hesse
2. Christ Recrucified
Nikos Kazantzakis
3. Titus Groan
Mervyn Peake
4. The Empty Space
Peter Brook
5. Finn Family Moomintroll
Tove Jansson
6. A Season with Verona
Tim Parks
7. A Mathematician’s Apology
G.H. Hardy
8. The Adventures of Tintin: Destination Moon
Hergé
9. Austerlitz
W.G. Sebald
10. Samarkand
Amin Maalouf